the ten best science fiction novels

This is my list of the ten best science fiction novels that I've read. Not having read every science fiction book ever published, your favorite book may not be on this list. What follows are highly subjective choices. You won't find Dune on the list, though I know it is deserving of being on every list like this, but I left it out precisely because it is on every list like this. There's no denying its a great novel. So is Hyperion. Its not on the list either. Why? I haven't read it yet, but I am looking forward to it.

The books that are mentioned here, are in no particular order. Narrowing it down to ten was difficult enough.

So, here we go...,

THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES (1950) by Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles is the closest science fiction has ever come to being pure poetry. It is a beautifully told collection of short stories that act as chapters within the larger tale of the colonization of Mars. It contrasts humans creating a new civilization on a distant planet, while civilization on earth collapses in nuclear fire. There are too many highlights to discuss here, other than to say that the haunting, unforgettable story, There Will Come Soft Rains is the most elegant meditation on the death of humanity that I can remember.

CONTACT (1985) by Carl Sagan

The late Carl Sagan's only novel. Contact has two parallel, yet connected stories. The first follows Eleanor Arroway as she discovers an alien signal coming from the star, Vega. The second flashbacks to Eleanor growing up with a step-father who she sees as an unwanted intruder in the life she shares with her mother. That resentment is contrasted with her fond memories of her loving dad. These two stories connect in the book's central irony, providing the real meaning of contact. Eleanor discovers that her step-father was actually her biological father. She had spent her life trying to connect with another civilization, while never really making contact with the people closest to her.

THE ROAD (2006) by Cormac McCarthy

This, to me, is easily the most disturbing, and terrifying vision of a post apocalyptic earth. There's no comic relief, there's no love story, and there's not much hope. It is, however, beautifully and compellingly written. It won several awards in 2007 including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize For Fiction in 2006, and deservedly so. A father travels with his son through a desolate landscape devastated by a cataclysm whose nature is never revealed, but has ended all civilization, and most animal, and plant life along with it. The boy's mother killed herself soon after his birth during the upheaval. The father, barely surviving himself, raises his son in this new world. Despite the tone of the book, The Road does actually manage to eke out just a little bit of hope for the boy, even as he is left alone when his father dies. Its a great read, and I highly recommend it.

1984 (1949) by George Orwell

I remember watching a British panel show called QI. Stephen Fry had asked the audience who had read the book, 1984. Most audience members, of course, raised their hands. The Klaxon sounded as that was the wrong answer. Apparently a few separate studies had proven that at least 25% of people who had claimed to have read this particular book, didn't in fact read it. That is a massive shame. Not only is it an incredibly well written, with compelling, relatable characters, but it's hold on pop culture, and politics is legendary. Not only did we get the terms Big Brother, and thought police from the novel, but in political circles 1984 has been held up by the West to show the evils of fascism, communism and dictatorships. Those countries have held up the book because they say that it shows the evils of democracy. If you're one of the 25% who claim to have read it, but haven't, then read it now. The clock is striking thirteen.

THE CHRYSALIDS (1955) by John Wyndham

This could very well be Wyndham's best novel. His others include Day of the Triffids, and The Midwich Cuckoos, both of which were adapted into multiple movies. On my initial reading, I thought The Chrysalids was science fiction's answer to To Kill A Mockingbird. I mean this in terms of two young children having to come to terms with some very adult ideas, and situations in a society that they are struggling to understand. In The Chrysalids, the society in question is a post apocalyptic village of people who give up any baby born with a mutation. The two children in question develop telepathic abilities, but their mutation is unknown to their family as there is no physical malformation. Wyndham does stumble slightly during the climax, but it remains an underrated novel, and a great read. Highly recommended. I love this book.

FOUNDATION (1950) by Isaac Asimov

Foundation was first published as a series of short stories from 1941 to 1950, then published as three novels from 1951 to 1953. The novels famously won the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series. (One of the other nominees was, The Lord of the Rings). This is the book that made me a science fiction fan. They were epic, century spanning stories that told the fall of one great civilization, and the planned millennium long rise of another. What the people of the Foundation don't realize is that the plan doesn't include them forming a second empire as they believe. A Second Foundation has its own vision for the future. The first book, Foundation is actually a collection of short stories, while the second novel, Foundation and Empire is basically two short novels. The third novel, Second Foundation is a more complete single novel. This is a truly classic series that can be purchased online in paperback for very little money. I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase first editions of the novels originally from Gnome Press.

MAKE ROOM MAKE ROOM (1966) by Harry Harrison

I remember reading Make Room Make Room, during a particularly frigid Toronto winter. The novel takes place during a scorching heat wave in a vastly overpopulated future (1999) New York City. I reluctantly put the book away as the subway train reached my destination. I exited the station on that -40 degree Celsius afternoon, and fully expected to walk out into the heat of mid-summer. That's how well this book is written, and how it will immerse you in the world that Harrison built. The story involves a police officer investigating a murder in a world where food, and resources are becoming increasingly scarce. The society, and customs he is forced to navigate pull the reader into narrative, and invests them in the characters. Make Room Make Room is most famously known as the novel that was adapted into the Charlton Heston movie, Soylent Green (1973). The movie is quite different from the novel, so don't expect that if you watch the movie that you know the novel.

FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON (1966) by Daniel Keyes

Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel (tied with Babel-17) in 1966, Flowers for Algernon began life as a short story published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The short story won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960. Algernon is a mouse subjected to a medical experiment to increase it's intelligence. After the procedure proves successful, it is performed on a man named Charlie, a 37 year old janitor with an IQ of 68. After the treatment, his IQ rises dramatically increasing his memory of an abusive past, and making his current relationships difficult as he outgrows those around him. But as Algernon regresses to his original state, Charlie is left with the knowledge that he, too, will also regress. This is an emotionally tough read. It is a tragedy, but it is also a must read.

A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ (1959) by Walter M. Miller Jr.

Where to begin? Despite having published over thirty science fiction short stories, this is Miller's only novel published before his death. Like Foundation, and Flowers for Algernon, A Canticle for Leibowitz began as three short stories that were originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A Canticle for Leibowitz is an all time masterpiece, and is easily one of the best science fiction novels that I have ever read. It can be horrifying, darkly humorous, and chilling. There are too many themes, and ideas in this novel to discuss here. Having said that, its overarching themes are not dissimilar to Asimov's Foundation in terms of cyclical history, religion, and how one civilization falls, leaving another civilization to rise in it's place. As mentioned, the novel was actually conceived by Miller as three separate stories, as such, the story takes place over several epochs as society rebuilds only to be confronted by new nations descending into a nuclear war that ends civilization on earth, again. Miller wrote a follow up called, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman that took place between two of the three stories. It was published in 1997, one year after had Miller passed away.

RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA (1973) by Arthur C. Clarke

Although Clarke sacrifices character development to the science in this novel but, Rendezvous with Rama remains a brilliant novel just the same. Human explorers aboard their ship, Endeavor board an alien vessel entering our solar system. There is no contact from the alien ship despite attempts by the Endeavor. As they enter uninvited, they have no idea what is waiting inside for them. The novel, much like Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey, focuses on the astronauts' vain attempt to know the unknowable. The humans enter Rama perplexed about the who, and why of it's existence. They leave much the same way despite having explored the cylinder to the best of their ability. They discover virtually nothing to tell them with any certainty who built Rama or even what they look like. They don't understand what it's purpose truly is or why it was passing through our solar system. Rama remains as much of an enigma as the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey.